Understanding the Importance of First-Semester Motivation During the College Career: A Longitudinal Study

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: What’s in It for Me? Self-Efficacy and Student Engagement

Abstract

Students may not enter college as self-regulated learners who know how to study for college-level courses, but many enter with the motivation to learn. To succeed, students must use effective learning strategies while also managing their available academic and social resources. The current study examined how motivational goals, beliefs, and affect at the end of the first college semester relate to learning strategies and academic performance assessed four years later. Mastery-approach goals, performance approach goals, task value, and self-efficacy were positively related to cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies. Results support that participants showed characteristics of being self-regulated learners throughout their college career.

Authors

• Colleen J. Sullivan, Worcester State College

• Linda Baker, University of Maryland - Baltimore County